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May. 18th, 2012 05:06 pm"So, Jane, you really think you've got something?"
'Despite all the previous false starts?' is the unspoken question.
"Yes," comes the voice from the other end of the phone.
"Ok, I'll be there in a week." Erik replies. He needed to check up on her soon, anyway, so it makes sense to do it now, out of term time, when there are no undergrad students to lecture.
*************
The flight from Richmond to Albuquerque had taken most of the day, and then Jane showed up in, well, it can only really be described as a tooled up camper van. That was when Erik started to have some concerns about what she was studying out here. It took them the rest of the day to get back to Puente Antiguo, where Jane had based herself for this field study. When she said that there was another event expected tonight, well, that's exactly what they were there to study. So into the desert, away from the town lights they headed.
So, out in the desert, waiting for a seemingly ridiculous event to occur. Standing through the sunroof of a camper van packed to bursting with high-tech equipment. The anticipated time comes, and passes, seemingly without incident.
"Wait for it." Jane tells them. Except, the predicted moment has been and gone, so they're waiting for nothing, now.
Indeed, when Darcy asks to turn on the radio, the moment seems to be gone, despite Jane's insistence that it's not.
But, Erik's job is to see that funding money is being well spent, which, a failed event doesn't really help, so, maybe it's time to bring her down slightly. "Jane, you can't keep doing this."
"The last seventeen have been predictable to the second," insists Jane, dropping back to check her notebook.
"Jane, you're an astrophysicist, not some storm chaser." Even as Jane calls up the images of the previous events on her computer, that they've already been over on the phone, the reason Erik's out here in the first place.
"I'm telling you, there's a connection between these atmospheric disturbances and my research. Erik, I wouldn't have asked you to fly out here, if I wasn't absolutely sure." says Jane, sighing.
"Jane, I think you want to see this." Ok, what's Darcy seen? Time to look in the mirrors.
You know, "What's that?" is probably exactly the right question to be asking at the moment, Jane. Back up through the sunroof to get a better look.
"I thought you said it was a subtle aurora?" Erik murmured.
'Despite all the previous false starts?' is the unspoken question.
"Yes," comes the voice from the other end of the phone.
"Ok, I'll be there in a week." Erik replies. He needed to check up on her soon, anyway, so it makes sense to do it now, out of term time, when there are no undergrad students to lecture.
*************
The flight from Richmond to Albuquerque had taken most of the day, and then Jane showed up in, well, it can only really be described as a tooled up camper van. That was when Erik started to have some concerns about what she was studying out here. It took them the rest of the day to get back to Puente Antiguo, where Jane had based herself for this field study. When she said that there was another event expected tonight, well, that's exactly what they were there to study. So into the desert, away from the town lights they headed.
So, out in the desert, waiting for a seemingly ridiculous event to occur. Standing through the sunroof of a camper van packed to bursting with high-tech equipment. The anticipated time comes, and passes, seemingly without incident.
"Wait for it." Jane tells them. Except, the predicted moment has been and gone, so they're waiting for nothing, now.
Indeed, when Darcy asks to turn on the radio, the moment seems to be gone, despite Jane's insistence that it's not.
But, Erik's job is to see that funding money is being well spent, which, a failed event doesn't really help, so, maybe it's time to bring her down slightly. "Jane, you can't keep doing this."
"The last seventeen have been predictable to the second," insists Jane, dropping back to check her notebook.
"Jane, you're an astrophysicist, not some storm chaser." Even as Jane calls up the images of the previous events on her computer, that they've already been over on the phone, the reason Erik's out here in the first place.
"I'm telling you, there's a connection between these atmospheric disturbances and my research. Erik, I wouldn't have asked you to fly out here, if I wasn't absolutely sure." says Jane, sighing.
"Jane, I think you want to see this." Ok, what's Darcy seen? Time to look in the mirrors.
You know, "What's that?" is probably exactly the right question to be asking at the moment, Jane. Back up through the sunroof to get a better look.
"I thought you said it was a subtle aurora?" Erik murmured.